@ianfieldhouse
I rode the same section last night and it was busy with a mix of peds, kids, rowing coaches and cyclists. I was behind a lady on a bike and we were both approaching two peds on the landward side of the path. The male ped was entirely on the grass as he was pushing a bike and the lady ped he was with was on the path. Then this eejit coming from the Meggetland direction, coming towards us starts shouting at the woman ped to get out of the way, whilst swinging his arm in a sweeping out of the way style. She jumps off the path and he thunders past. I just had time to call him the word that ryhmes with "Hat". I just could not believe what i had seen. He was like a bull-dozer. I just can't comprehend what he was thinking. He was middle aged, on MTB and outwardly looked normal.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4503 posts)-
Posted 8 years ago #
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Interestingly, Boyfriend Of Fimm was also on the canal towpath heading into town from Wester Hailes about 5pm and his comment was that it was busy but everyone was very well behaved!
Posted 8 years ago # -
@BaseCut Sounds par for the course for the towpath in my experience. I hardly ever use it nowadays but for some reason (I'm guessing lack of cars) I return to it every so often only to be rudely reminded of why I gave up previously. Too many people treat it like their own personal racetrack and think that by ringing their bell that makes things ok. The speed some cyclists go under the bridges is insane. Just because you don't hear a bell before entering doesn't mean there is no one else coming the other way under the bridge. I suppose they'll eventually find out the hard way when they end up in that canal.
Posted 8 years ago # -
The speed some cyclists go under the bridges is insane.
+1 I'm always amazed by this too. I'm of the school of thought where I don't mind a rapid turn of speed along an otherwise empty path, but I will speak to peds and slow down for the bridges blah blah blah.
People who are much slower than me (but think they're fast) invariably catch up at the squeeze points and then think they're helping by barraging me and those in front of me with bell pings. I sometimes try to discourage this by slowing down gratuitously if a rider behind me going in my direction pings me. Not sure it works, but amusing!
Posted 8 years ago # -
fashionably attired and baseball-capped studenty type on a fairly new roadbike went zooming through red on the left turn from North Bridge to Princes Street, narrowly avoiding the large crowd of crossing pedestrians. Got justifiable abuse from the cider-swiggers he almost hit.
Posted 8 years ago # -
It took me three goes to get the bloke following me on the NEPN through Trinity to get past or stay back, but he only uttered his incomprehensible replies once each. He wasn't very close but was closer than he needed to be and was clearly deliberately staying the same distance behind me through several marked changes in speed, so he had to go.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Not rubbish as such, but a tad annoying: the guy on the single speed (I think) who I easily overtook on Gilmore Place this morning (despite the fact that he'd had ages to get up to speed), but who then latched on to my rear wheel before eventually overtaking me and speeding away into the distance on the canal towpath. Try to cycle at a representative speed to begin with but don't feel you have to retaliate when somebody decides to overtake you.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I had a wheelsucker heading uphill on London Road this morning. He breezed by once we hit the flat, but my legs were flat and panniers heavy, so I didn't bother indulging in the commuter race. Another rider breezed by, and eased easily past the first. Anyway, big gap, but turns out the guy who went past first is worse than I am at going uphill. Just as the catch was about to happen before the Playhouse, he RLJd the crossing there, then proceeded to ignore the road closed area for Broughton and simply filtered down the side into oncoming traffic.
So I won by default.
Posted 8 years ago # -
what's a "studenty-type"? I've variously heard that they are always dressed grungey and anyone that wears a baseball-cap is most likely an unemployed "scrounger on benefits". My at Uni kids also have friends who dress gothily, current fashionably, old fashionably, scruffily, smartly, with hats, without hats.
I'm at a loss.
Unless it's simple pejorative-speak, the same kind of talk that seems to ramp up cyclists as valid targets by some road users, just because they're cyclists.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Deja-studenty-vu...
Posted 8 years ago # -
The two unlit-but-otherwise-fully-kitted-out cyclists I encountered on the ride in this morning between 6 and 6.30am.
If I'm looking, not going fast and you're not visible coming towards me until it's almost too late, it won't be long before one of the NEPN racers who's not giving the path ahead 100% of their attention will have a head-on with you.
C'mon. A cheap light set can be had for under a fiver these days.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I think some people think 'off-road path, don't need lights'.
Foolish though!
Posted 8 years ago # -
The wheel-sucker on the canal towpath this morning. I'd seen him riding behind a slower cyclist as I approached and overtook them both in Wester Hailes, only to hear a bell ding behind me as I passed and then find that he'd now attached himself to my back wheel. After varying my speed (perhaps a little too much given that I heard him brake hard at one point; apologies for that!) to check, I turned to ask if he wanted to pass. He didn't. I asked if he was going to just stay on my back wheel to which he replied that he was turning off soon. I said "fair enough". I think he backed off a little after that and did then eventually turn off the towpath beyond the Calder Road bridge.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Driving through Stockbridge today, quite a few cyclists meandering (probably more accurate to say wobbling in a few cases) through and none of them even glanced over their shoulder before moving out in front of the car (they were pretty much all kerb hugging until 50cm before each parked car). Face, meet palm. Gives me the rage :P Take *some* responsibility for your own safety...
Posted 8 years ago # -
Has anyone ever come across a ridiculously aggressive/angry/psychopathic mountain biker who goes West on the towpath in the evening, usually at the aqueduct at approx 17:25?
He has a black and green (possibly Merida) bike, and was wearing a blue top tonight. I would say I had him on my tail from Harrison Park to the aqueduct but the majority of that time he was either alongside me going under the bridges/round blind corners or smashing into the back of me if I slowed for a pedestrian. Three times he came into the back of me tonight and it is not the first time.
He went past as I slowed for the aqueduct and charged across at full speed, barging people out of his way in the process.
He has a tendency to cough as he knocks pedestrians over, just so that they know he was there as they wonder why they are lying on the ground.Posted 8 years ago # -
Turnip who swung round from Albert St into Leith Walk without a single glance. They were wearing headphones but did appear to have heard when I asked them not to barge in front of me without looking again in case I was a bus. Or a taxi.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Was me. Repeatedly.
First up, had been following a woman up the ferry road path about 6-7 bike lengths back. She signalled to leave the path and I slowed down to let her do so, but she in turn was letting me past resulting in her having to touch her foot down as she came to a stop. My bad.
Also passed a pedestrian on Broomie path while a cyclist was coming the other way. We were both on the cycle side of the path, but given the convention of staying left and the fact that the ped was going same direction of travel as I it would have been reasonable for other cyclist to expect me to allow him through. My bad again.
Was also asked at Russel Rd by fellow cyclist for directions to the Gyle. The directions I gave were pretty terrible, and it occurred to me about two minutes later that I was going the same way for most of his journey so should have just suggested that he tag along with me. My meh.
Apols if any of those are resident here.
Posted 8 years ago # -
The southbound nerk on the Roseburn nerk, who gave a cheery "are you not absolutely freezing?" as he overtook before not slowing down even slightly to pass through two closing sets of pedestrians under Coltbridge.
White Specialized with grey Altura pannier on Morrison St who swerved in front of a Rembrand lorry (which had to brake) before serving left into Lothian Road.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Was me times three. Last night I emerged from Calder Road bridge on the towpath to find an oncoming cyclist wobbling towards me as they rang their bell. We were both taking the middle of the path. I instinctively went 'wide' to my right and luckily they did the same (it's an 's' bend) so we passed each other unscathed. I called out "sorry" to which they responded with an angry shout. Not sure about the justification for that since they were partly to blame, although I suppose I was the one emerging from the relative darkness and they might not have heard my bell ring upon entering.
Further into town I then committed the cardinal sin of forcing an oncoming cyclist to have to come to a stop by passing a pedestrian who was walking away from me. We were all going slowly though and the pedestrian was to the right of the path so I don't feel as bad as I might, although I should have slowed down and moved in behind the pedestrian until the other cyclist passed before then overtaking, but that might have ended up confusing the matter further espeically in the dark.
This morning I started cycling onto the aqueduct only to realise immediately that the oncoming cyclists were actually still on their bikes and not pushing as I had judged from a distance so we ended up meeting quicker than I had anticipated... I did offer to give way but they all moved over to let me pass (to be fair I was heading west and some people's convention is to give way to those travelling in that direction, but had I realised that they were cycling I would have waited the 15-20 seconds for them to exit at the far end).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Wheelsucker from Preston Pans to somewhere around Longniddry Bents (I think) tonight. Seemed very close, and slightly irritating that I had to keep checking if he was there whilst trying to ignore it so I didn't mess up my pacing (I was going to North Berwick and back).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Wheelsucker ain't no thing, a compliment really, unless you've flicked them on but they wont take their turn
Nah, the ones that get me are the marks that put all their efforts into getting *just* past you, then sit up as if they've taken the stage win
You then feel obliged to leave them for dust, wondering what that little show was all about
Posted 8 years ago # -
Large illuminated moving telly-like advertising boards can distract cyclists as well as drivers, though this person was well beyond sight of that (and didn't have the sun in her eyes) when she failed to notice another cyclist joining the path in front of her.
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Posted 8 years ago # -
I suspect inexperienced/nervous in this case - she did keep right at one other point when passing an approaching cyclist, so she could have been instinctively steering clear of the carriageway, rather than thinking there was a cycling convention to keep left on shared paths.
Robert
Posted 8 years ago # -
LOTS of RLJ this morning. Must be a bug going round or something.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@Roibeard Dunno... she was going fairly fast at some points (pedalling, not just rolling helplessly down the slope) and had been using both sides of the path randomly, which is why I was staying well back after I caught up. Not clear with the wide angle, but there was some quite clear head-turned billboard-gawping with attention-recovery wibbles, too.
Posted 8 years ago # -
The cyclist who careered into my path at high speed from behind a large sign the other night, requiring an emergency stop. I shouted they should slow down, to which they apologised, but then adding something to the effect "I couldn't help it - my brakes are s**t". Hmmm...
Posted 8 years ago # -
The guy in an orange Altura/Endura jacket on a hybrid who felt it was absolutely ok to suck onto my rear wheel off and on from Craigentinny to the Shell garage in Musselburgh.
Totally blatant - no way he couldn't get past since I moved in, slowed down and even did the elbow waggle thing, but he stayed resolutely welded like an orange limpet to my rear wheel. Even when I slowed to a laughable pace he seemed content to cling onto my wheel. No idea why. Aero advantage? Was the slight breeze taking a watt or two out of his legs? I mean, the guy was clearly capable of ripping it past me.
Any tips on how to deal with wheel-suckers greatly welcomed. Preferably avoiding strong language.
Posted 8 years ago # -
In cases like that, just stop.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Pull over and stop. Then catch up and wheelsuck them for as long as possible...
Posted 8 years ago # -
@Chdot & threefromleith - see I know intellectually that's the right thing to do (whereas yesterday I just got p*ssed off and put the hammer down as hard as I could: if you're going to wheel suck, then the least you can do is make an effort).
Last time I had a wheel sucker I indicated to pull in and heard an audible 'F***'s sake' as he went past.
Posted 8 years ago #
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